Materialists review

MATERIALISTS: 

DAKOTA JOHNSON, CHRIS EVANS, AND PEDRO PASCAL CHARM IN CELINE SONG’S DECONSTRUCTION OF ROM-COMS! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

A24

Chris Evans, Dakota Johnson, and Pedro Pascal in Materialists

 

            A love triangle between Dakota Johnson (The Social Network, Fifty Shades trilogy, Black Mass), Chris Evans (Marvel Cinematic Universe, Snowpiercer, Knives Out), and Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The Fantastic Four: First Steps) forms in Materialists, the new romantic comedy-drama from Celine Song (Past Lives) in her second directing effort. I was onboard for this movie for a number of reasons, I loved Song’s previous film, Past Lives and thought it was absolutely beautiful when I saw it in 2023, it was from A24 (I mean, come on, anyone who loves movies and cinema has to appreciate this studio!), and it has three incredibly talented leads that I admire a lot (Fifty Shades movies and Madame Web not withstanding for Johnson!). 

            So, this was a no-brainer and I’m happy to report that Materialists is really damn good especially compared to pandering romances and chick flicks that came before. This is a very mature, sincere, and smart deconstruction of the rom-com formula that relies on the charm of its leads and a story that doesn’t talk down to its audience. 

            The film follows Lucy (Johnson), a failed actress turned successful matchmaker in New York City who finds herself torn between her perfect match in the form of charming billionaire, Harry (Pascal) and her aspiring actor ex-boyfriend, John (Evans). What follows is an emotional rollercoaster of laughs, tears, and love as Lucy tries to figure out which man is truly the one for her. 

            The film also stars Zoë Winters (Succession, Jules, Cold Wallet) as Sophie, Marin Ireland (Law & Order,Rachel Getting Married, Hell or High Water) as Violet, Dasha Nekrasova (Succession, Bad Behaviour, The Beast) as Daisy, Louisa Jacobson (The Gifted Age) as Charlotte, Sawyer Spielberg (Honeydew, Masters of the Air, Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point; also Steven Spielberg’s son) as Mason, Eddie Cahill (Friends, Miracle, Lords of Dogtown) as Robert, and Joseph Lee (Searching, Beef, Star Trek: Picard) as Trevor. 

            Overall, Materialists is a romantic comedy that completely subverts audiences’ expectations of the genre and crafts a truly clever, engaging, and funny deconstruction of the genre while still being a rom-com in its own right. The setup seems like an audience pandering Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, or Katherine Heigl movie you’d probably see in the mid-2000s that would have given romantic comedies and chick flicks the bad rep it had at the time, but Celine Song and the cast and crew know its audience is much smarter than this and gives them something quite special. 

On the surface, it is a romantic comedy with the kind of premise you’d expect, but it’s also a look at the human conditions with deeper themes and genuine emotion. The rom-com elements are there, but Celine clearly wanted to go beyond that with this movie and I think she succeeded. 
            Compared to a typical rom-com with this kind of premise, there would be the perfect guy for the girl that the audience wants her to fall in love with and then there’s the other guy who’s a complete jackass yet the girl keeps coming back to. Materialists doesn’t do that as it portrays both Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal as very likable and either one would be perfect fits for Dakota Johnson in this movie which I think is so refreshing and that a lot of Hollywood romances should take note of this. 

As with all great romances, what makes the movie work is the chemistry between its leads and in this film’s case it’s Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal. They’re all great here and have a lot of charm particularly Pascal who plays the smooth billionaire with a big heart perfectly to the point where I’m convinced he was born to play this kind of role. 

Chris Evans is also a standout as Lucy’s struggling ex-boyfriend who clearly loves her and does what he can to make her happy but also has a lot on his plate. Also, it’s great to see Chris Evans drop F-bombs to which Captain America probably does not approve of. 

I know people like to make fun of Dakota Johnson because of the Fifty Shades of Grey movies and Madame Web, but when she’s given the right script and proper direction, she can give a great performance with this being one of them. I found Johnson as Lucy to be very endearing and does an excellent job being funny and charming while also selling the heavier and more dramatic moments very well, a huge step up from Anastasia Steele…actually, an entire flight of stairs from Anastasia Steele! 

Celine Song continues to amaze me as she’s quickly becoming one of the all-time greats for romance filmmaking with this and Past Lives. Materialists works as a love story that’s perfect for date night and it works as a realistic look at human conditions and the emotions people have when they’re in love done with sincerity and for a lack of better word, love for the genre. 

This along with Neon’s The Life of Chuck are the Go-To movies to see in theaters over the lazy Hollywood cash grab that is the DreamWorks How to Train Your Dragon remake. Truly a wonderful week for independent films and they deserve all the support they can get.